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Post by budd on Oct 31, 2021 9:04:33 GMT -5
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Post by esshup on Oct 31, 2021 22:25:30 GMT -5
Budd, it's not the cold water, it's the running out of O2 that is the problem with keeping fish alive during the winter.
I've kept fish alive in a pond that had water that was barely deeper than a 5 gal bucket is tall by keeping the ice off 10% of the pond.
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Post by budd on Nov 1, 2021 6:18:16 GMT -5
Budd, it's not the cold water, it's the running out of O2 that is the problem with keeping fish alive during the winter. I've kept fish alive in a pond that had water that was barely deeper than a 5 gal bucket is tall by keeping the ice off 10% of the pond. Yes, "freezing out" is the phrase we use for it (even the fisheries people). What I meant by deep enough is my pond wont freeze to the bottom like the rest of my dug training ponds that are only 3-4 ft deep. When lake's freeze out up here the DNR removes the limit on fish, thus the fish dont go to waste. Ive seen it a number of times and it's not pretty. Another phrase is Lakes turning over, which actually happens twice a year when surface waters become warmer/cooler than bottom waters. Some lakes become very muddy looking when this happens. Do you have any experience with windmill aeration? Do you think it would work in -30 -40 temps? |
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Post by esshup on Nov 1, 2021 9:00:33 GMT -5
Budd:
Yes I have experience with windmill aeration and I am not a fan of it (Koenders). I have one customer with 4 ponds on his place, 1 was strictly aerated with a windmill, the other 3 from grid based aerators. One year the windmill pond winterkilled. There was a 2 week period with little wind, heavy cloud cover and fog. No sunlight for the phytoplankton to produce O2 under the ice, and no wind to keep the pond open.
If the ponds are close to the house, you can trench in 1" dia black poly tube from a compressor that can get electric to the pond and transition to the self-sinking tubing to run an aerator in 3' of water. I've run bigger dia tubing over 1/2 mile to a set of ponds then split the line to go to each pond. That tubing is a LOT cheaper than running electric.
The other problem with the windmill system is that they are a diaphragm pump, and the rubber diaphragm needs replacing every few years. How do you do that 20-30 feet up in the air?
That same customer I noted above has 2 windmills, and they both need bearing changes now. So next year I will have to rent a lift to get up there to service the bearings. I am NOT looking forward to that. Not afraid of heights, but to change the bearings the fan blade assembly has to come off and it's a one piece deal. I will be calling the mfg to see how they recommend doing it.
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Post by budd on Nov 1, 2021 15:14:52 GMT -5
Budd: Yes I have experience with windmill aeration and I am not a fan of it (Koenders). I have one customer with 4 ponds on his place, 1 was strictly aerated with a windmill, the other 3 from grid based aerators. One year the windmill pond winterkilled. There was a 2 week period with little wind, heavy cloud cover and fog. No sunlight for the phytoplankton to produce O2 under the ice, and no wind to keep the pond open. If the ponds are close to the house, you can trench in 1" dia black poly tube from a compressor that can get electric to the pond and transition to the self-sinking tubing to run an aerator in 3' of water. I've run bigger dia tubing over 1/2 mile to a set of ponds then split the line to go to each pond. That tubing is a LOT cheaper than running electric. The other problem with the windmill system is that they are a diaphragm pump, and the rubber diaphragm needs replacing every few years. How do you do that 20-30 feet up in the air? That same customer I noted above has 2 windmills, and they both need bearing changes now. So next year I will have to rent a lift to get up there to service the bearings. I am NOT looking forward to that. Not afraid of heights, but to change the bearings the fan blade assembly has to come off and it's a one piece deal. I will be calling the mfg to see how they recommend doing it. Thanks for the info on the windmills (exactly what I was wanting to know). Now about the electric compressor air, do you think I would have issues with condensation freezing in the line's? Our frost can go 3ft some years and Im afraid if there were to be any down time for even a few minutes that I would have frozen lines. |
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Post by budd on Nov 1, 2021 16:47:42 GMT -5
Of course we are getting snow today.  |
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Post by esshup on Nov 4, 2021 0:41:51 GMT -5
Budd:
If the compressor is outside, AND you use 1" black poly line for burial, then you should have no issues with freezing. You really should use a 1/4 hp gast rotary vane compressor 0523 is the last 4 digits, look at septic solutions for a good price. You don't need a lot of pressure, volume is your friend I will try to get a bit of time to spec out what parts you need but it might be after our season opens too - there isn't enough time in the day. I left Arkansas today @ 10:30 am after loading up on Fathead Minnows, Golden Shiners, Hybrid Bluegills, Redear Sunfish, Regular Bluegills and Hybrid Striped Bass. Made 1 stop in central Illinois and pulled in here @ 11:30 pm. I was at the first hatchery putting water in the tanks @ 6:30 this morning.
Let me know how big the ponds will be, and if you want to aerate in the summer or just the winter. Really there is no need to aerate during the summer if they aren't deeper than about 7 feet.
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